Everyone knows that the cultures of countries spanning across the globe are all varied and have many differences. One of the glaringly obvious differences between Chinese and western culture is the vast differences between language. This difference is a cause of many misunderstandings and funny mishaps and is a factor often taken for granted by visitors to the middle kingdom. Likewise everyone knows that Chinese food is extremely different to other cuisines that are not from the orient.

One cultural difference that is often greatly overlooked is the notion of common sense. You would think that common sense is the same everywhere right? That is why it is called common sense- check the Merriam-Webster definition for reference

common sense

noun

: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts

Almost anyone that has resided in China for any extended period of time can attest the fact that common sense is really not all that “common”. Perhaps universal may in fact be the better word than common. Common sense, it seems, is in fact not so common. One of the most apparent ways in which discrepancies of what common sense is in different cultures is made clear when we start to think about the body and how we protect it and our own health.

In most western countries, if the mercury is hovering at anywhere near 20c most red blooded males see that as a sign to break out the short sleeves and shorts. If they do this in China they will be meet with incredulous stares and be questioned, “are you not really cold dressed like that?”. Unless spring is well and truly over and summer is in full swing, they will most likely be seen as a little bit crazy, and yes, most definitely defying common sense.

In China there is a phrase which translates roughly as “Wrap up slowly in the autumn and gradually wear less in the spring” . This is something seen as basic common sense in China but it is news to many people from the rest of the world. Likewise if a Chinese person sees you walking on a tiled floor barefoot at home they will most likely screw their face up in a grimace that is a mixture of disbelief and mild discomfort at having seen your sensitive naked feet on cold tiles.

Similarly Chinese people also take a dim view of drinking iced water and even not drinking boiling hot water all year round. These differences are mainly a result of the philosophies of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which place emphasis on mysterious -to westerners- energies of ‘yin’ and ‘yang’ and the transfer of energy known as ‘qi’ which passes along meridians in our bodies. For these reasons the previously mentioned practices that foreigners never even give a second thought to are seen as self destructive and going against the grain in terms of common sense by Chinese people .

This notion of common sense extends far past views on health care and lifestyle practices into areas such as social interactions and work practices. The more we become accustomed to another culture we realize how much we take for granted. Indeed wrapped up in our own ethnocentricity we are led to believe that there is one universal common sense when in fact all that exists are a number of localized common senses. This is certainly food for thought.